After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 340: Chapter 339: Clone Technique

Its value lay in the four words: ”it follows my commands.”

This was the difference between a commonplace item anyone could redeem and an exclusive Cultivation Technique.

A Mirror Image was a projection of one’s combat awareness and possessed only battle instincts.

But a Clone was different. Hee Lingchuan could speak through it, see through it, and even divert his attention to control it for other tasks. Besides causing mischief, it could also perform delicate work like threading a needle. If he wasn’t concerned about the short duration, it could even engage in some... *strenuous activities*.

Extrapolating from that, the Clone’s actions were filled with infinite possibilities. The key was how he chose to use it.

This was a true ”Outer Incarnation.”

Of course, Elder Wang had also seen the potential of this Divine Technique, which was why he’d stubbornly stuffed money into the beast’s head, trying to fill it up.

Unfortunately, this task was far beyond his means.

So, was it possible for Hee Lingchuan to satisfy the Gold-devouring Beast’s appetite?

Elder Wang’s record was feeding it seven hundred taels of silver and two Grand Eastern Pearls at once, but he had failed.

Hee Lingchuan took stock of his own wealth and found he had less than a third of that amount. He was far from close.

But even though it was called a Gold-devouring Beast, would just feeding it gold, silver, and treasures be enough?

After Elder Wang had exhausted all his efforts, what was the final conclusion he’d reached?

The treasures of the Mortal World simply couldn’t satisfy it.

Even a Gold-devouring Beast had high standards for the quality of its food.

And a Supreme Treasure never won through quantity.

Hee Lingchuan laid out all his belongings on the table and examined them one by one.

’The candy snail shell... only humans like that. The beast definitely won’t eat this thing.’

In the Dream Realm, he didn’t have a single Profound Crystal, or else he could have tried feeding it one.

Then there were his various weapons and a little bit of silver... ’Looking at it this way, I haven’t saved up much of anything in this dream!’

The only thing that could be considered a Supreme Treasure was probably the Floating Life Blade.

The moment he touched the hilt, the Treasure Saber vibrated twice in anger, as if to say:

”You dare?”

He didn’t dare. Besides, if he threw the Floating Life Blade in, it was hard to say which would end up eating which.

However, this Clone Technique was extremely useful. It might be a great help in dealing with his current predicament in reality.

Hee Lingchuan looked around, and his gaze suddenly landed on two inconspicuous little things:

Two chrysalises.

Strictly speaking, they were the Brain Cores of two Jindu Cubs.

One could create a Flesh Fortress for one or two double-hours, while the other was already cracked, its function currently unknown.

’The Jindu Mother is a Deity, so shouldn’t its cubs at least hold the title of ”Divine Son”?’

’Then these two Brain Cores shouldn’t be ordinary objects. Or, in Elder Wang’s words, they’re ”not treasures of the Mortal World”?’

He remembered the Red General’s words: a bit of Divine Power still remained within these two items.

’Well then, should I give it a try?’

Hee Lingchuan picked up the cracked Jindu Brain Core. It had no other use, anyway.

He first prepared a brush and paper, ground the ink, and then tossed the Brain Core into the wide-open beast mouth pattern on the Scroll.

As expected, the Brain Core vanished instantly, as if it had fallen into a bottomless pit.

Two breaths passed.

Five breaths passed.

There was no change at all. It was even less of a reaction than tossing in a Copper Plate.

’Is it having trouble digesting it?’

Hee Lingchuan couldn’t help but sigh, finally understanding Elder Wang’s feeling of longing for something unattainable.

’This damn Gold-devouring Beast, this goddamn scammer.’

Failing once was enough; he didn’t want to waste the other Brain Core. Only a gambler would keep throwing good money after bad, desperate to win back their losses.

But just as Hee Lingchuan was about to put the Scroll away, the Beast Skin Paper suddenly glowed with red light.

Immediately after, the beast head pattern, its mouth perpetually open, actually closed its jaw!

The tattered Beast Skin Paper began to restore itself at a visible rate. Wormholes, tears, and stains vanished. The missing parts quickly filled in, and the originally dim Immortal Language reverted to clear, distinct, vermilion characters!

In just ten breaths, the Beast Skin Paper in front of Hee Lingchuan was as clean and whole as if it had just been written!

Evidently, the Gold-devouring Beast was very pleased with his offering and was now completely full.

’Produced by a Deity... truly an extraordinary item.’

’So, has eternal greed triumphed over eternal time?’ Hee Lingchuan mused, then frantically began to write.

He had to copy down the Secret Technique on the Gold-Devouring Beast Hide before it completely digested the Brain Core.

Fortunately, the Gold-Devouring Beast Hide seemed to be exceptionally full this time, remaining in its complete state for a full half double-hour.

This was enough time for Hee Lingchuan to finish copying and check it over several times.

After half a double-hour, the Gold-Devouring Beast Hide slowly reverted to its original state.

Once again, it was just a tattered piece of hide.

Hee Lingchuan picked up the Divine Technique he had copied, read it over carefully a few times, and let out a long breath, his heart filled with wild joy.

Besides the Clone being able to follow orders, the Technique also mentioned another key point:

It could wear equipment.

’Think about it... the possibilities seem endless.’

He immediately left the quiet room and, using his status as the shop’s landlord, demanded an ultra-low discount from the fat Shopkeeper to prepare an outfit for his Clone. It included a suit of Demon Python Light Armor, Fast Boots, a set of Flying Blades, and a pair of Fine Iron Dual Blades!

That’s right—any move Hee Lingchuan knew, the Clone knew as well.

He eagerly anticipated the scene of himself and his Clone hacking down enemies side-by-side.

Even though it was a ”bone-breaking” price, anything even remotely related to Magical Artifacts was ridiculously expensive. With this one purchase, he had spent nearly half his fortune.

’Sigh, money and military merits don’t last. They’re gone as soon as you loosen your grip.’

Despite this, the cunning shopkeeper still felt he’d been taken advantage of and tried hard to upsell him, bringing out several bottles of Pills and a set of Talismanic Charms. Hee Lingchuan considered that there was no Medicinal Ape to make medicine for him in Dream City, and Aluo was incredibly busy, so he bought a few for emergencies.

The shopkeeper barely managed to win back a round.

Next, he could finally go to the Pengcheng Bureau.

With the Clone Technique, he could now save the military merits he had planned to spend on the Mirror Image Technique. After much thought, Hee Lingchuan redeemed another Divine Technique called ”Stubborn.”

This Minor Divine Technique didn’t cost many military merits but was very useful. Its effect was to allow the user to enter a ”stubborn rock” state, sealing all acupoints, cutting off their aura, stopping their heartbeat, and even shielding their Divine Thought.

As long as it was paired with a surface-level disguise, anyone who swept the area with their Divine Thought would most likely mistake him for an ordinary piece of wood or stone, not a human.

Of course, the more profoundly one cultivated it, the longer ”Stubborn” would last.

Afterward, Hee Lingchuan hurried back to his residence.

For the next thirty to forty double-hours, he shut out the outside world, immersing himself completely in studying the two new techniques he had acquired.

His real self was in danger; every bit of extra strength was another layer of security, another sliver of hope for survival.

In the end, Hee Lingchuan summarized his results. As a beginner, his ”Stubborn” technique could last for nearly thirty minutes.

As for the Clone Technique, he could currently only summon one Clone. Its physique, strength, and speed were identical to his own, and it lasted for about twelve breaths. It would also disappear prematurely if it suffered a fatal injury.

This Clone could move up to a maximum of twelve zhang away from his main body. It could wear equipment and act according to his will—and if Hee Lingchuan was too busy to direct it, it would automatically attack enemies.

’Seems pretty smart, doesn’t it?’

The only downside was that he could only summon it once every double-hour.

Furthermore, at Hee Lingchuan’s current level of Cultivation, each summoning would drain more than half of his True Power. Therefore, he had to calculate carefully when to use this move.

The Clone would also continuously consume True Power for its duration, which was deducted from his main body.

In other words, if Hee Lingchuan summoned the Clone, he would first lose half his True Power, and then he would have to bear the True Power consumption for both his own and the Clone’s combat.

That was at least double the drain.

Hee Lingchuan counted on his fingers for a while. ’With one more major skill, my True Power is already stretched thin.’

’It seems I’ll have to work hard to raise my Cultivation and improve both the quality and quantity of my True Power later on.’

***

A Purple Waterfowl was foraging for food in the ruins of the Jiana Clan. When the grass behind it suddenly rustled, it was scared into fleeing back into the aquatic plants.

Hee Lingchuan had just retrieved two large, ten-jin fish from the Earth Cave Spider’s webbed crate and was about to head back to roast them for dinner when he couldn’t help but stop as he passed by the Jiana Race’s Moon Divinity Temple.

Two consecutive Dream Realms had been related to the Jindu Cub, to the plans of the Deities, and most importantly, to his current reality.

The Red General had hinted that Wen Daolun gave up on using the Grand Square Pot, personally extinguishing his son’s only hope of survival.

Hee Lingchuan could see at a glance that Wen Daolun’s genuine feelings for his son far surpassed those of his own deadbeat father.

Yet Wen Daolun had still done it.

’So let’s work backward. What would have happened if Zhong Shengguang had agreed to Wen Daolun’s request and used the Grand Square Pot to save Wen Xing’s life?’

’The most direct consequence would be that Wen Xing could live.’

’He could recover even after being struck by a Divine Art.’

He remembered the Red General saying, ”Right now, only a Divine Art can counter a Divine Art,” or by using a Divine Artifact.

This should be a consensus among the Celestial Gods. Mitian knew it, so the Deity who sneak-attacked Wen Daolun should have known it too.

But Zhong Shengguang had cut him off before he could say the two words ”Divine Artifact,” not wanting outsiders to know.

Considering the background at the time—the fifteenth year of Panlong City, three years after Zhong Shengguang’s offering to the gods—a thought suddenly arose in Hee Lingchuan’s mind:

’Is it possible that the existence of the Grand Square Pot was still a secret back then?’

He had entered the Dream Realm as someone from the future, so he naturally knew that Panlong City possessed the Grand Square Pot. However, perhaps the common people, the nation, and even the Deities of that time were all kept in the dark?

Even people like Hu Min and Willow didn’t know about the existence of the Three Corpses Insect, and enemy nations like Baling and Xianyou had yet to develop an effective way to counter its control over Deities.

Perhaps only a select few, like Zhong Shengguang and Wen Daolun, held the secret of the Grand Square Pot.

If Wen Xing were to be cured, the Jindu Mother would immediately learn the truth: that Panlong City possessed a Divine Artifact.

Would this not become the seed of a new disaster?

Hee Lingchuan walked into the Moon Divinity Temple and looked up at the towering divine statue.

’What did Second Madam Zhu say about the Jiana Race before? That this place produced a great number of experts, had not only seen a Miracle, but also guarded a treasure bestowed by a Deity?’

And then, the Jindu Mother sent the Sadist.

Hee Lingchuan now knew that for Deities unable to descend to the Mortal World personally, a Sadist was a precious strategic resource—one that couldn’t be retrieved after being deployed.

Why would such an expensive, single-use weapon be deployed against a tiny, insignificant clan? Even if it had produced many strong individuals.

The only explanation was that the prize was immense—

The Sadist had come for the treasure bestowed by the ”Moon God.”

If the Deities also confirmed that Panlong City had a treasure, how would they deal with it?